shut

[ shuht ]
See synonyms for: shutshutting on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object),shut, shut·ting.
  1. to put (a door, cover, etc.) in position to close or obstruct.

  2. to close the doors of (often followed by up): to shut up a shop for the night.

  1. to close (something) by bringing together or folding its parts: Shut your book. Shut the window!

  2. to confine; enclose: to shut a bird into a cage.

  3. to bar; exclude: They shut him from their circle.

  4. to cause (a factory, school, etc.) to end or suspend operations, services, or business activity: He shut his store, sold his house, and moved away.We're shutting the office for two weeks in June.

  5. to bolt; bar.

verb (used without object),shut, shut·ting.
  1. to become shut or closed; close.

adjective
  1. closed; fastened up: a shut door.

  2. Phonetics. checked (def. 4).

noun
  1. the act or time of shutting or closing.

  2. the line where two pieces of welded metal are united.

Verb Phrases
  1. shut down,

    • to close, especially temporarily; end or suspend operations, services, or business activity.

    • to stop operating or stop the operation of (a machine): Did you remember to shut down your computer?

    • Also shut down on / upon .Informal. to hinder; check; stop from doing or saying something: He appeared on the talk show to shut down his critics.

    • Informal. to defeat or outdo:The team was able to shut down the offense.

    • to settle over a place so as to envelop or darken it: The fog shut down rapidly.

  2. shut in,

    • to enclose.

    • to confine, as from illness: She broke her leg in a fall and has been shut in for several weeks.

  1. shut of, Informal. free of; rid of: He wished he were shut of all his debts.

  2. shut off,

    • to stop the passage of (water, traffic, electricity, etc.); close off.

    • to isolate; separate: an outpost almost completely shut off from civilization.

  3. shut out,

    • to keep from entering; exclude.

    • to hide from view.

    • to prevent (an opponent or opposing team) from scoring, as in a game of baseball.

  4. shut up,

    • to imprison; confine.

    • to close entirely.

    • Informal. to stop talking; become silent (often used as a rude command): Just sit down and shut up! I thought the neighbors would never shut up and let me sleep.

    • Informal. to stop (someone) from talking; silence.

    • Informal. (used to express disbelief or astonishment): You dated her in high school? Shut up!

Origin of shut

1
First recorded before 1000; Middle English s(c)hutten, s(c)hetten, s(c)hitten Old English scyttan “to bolt (a door)”; akin to shoot1

synonym study For shut

1. See close.

Other words for shut

Opposites for shut

Other words from shut

  • half-shut, adjective
  • re·shut, verb, re·shut, re·shut·ting.
  • un·shut, adjective

Words Nearby shut

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use shut in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for shut

shut

/ (ʃʌt) /


verbshuts, shutting or shut
  1. to move (something) so as to cover an aperture; close: to shut a door

  2. to close (something) by bringing together the parts: to shut a book

  1. (tr often foll by up) to close or lock the doors of: to shut up a house

  2. (tr; foll by in, out, etc) to confine, enclose, or exclude: to shut a child in a room

  3. (tr) to prevent (a business, etc) from operating

  4. shut one's eyes to to ignore deliberately

  5. shut the door on

    • to refuse to think about

    • to render impossible

adjective
  1. closed or fastened

noun
  1. the act or time of shutting

  2. the line along which pieces of metal are welded

  1. get shut of or get shot of slang to get rid of

Origin of shut

1
Old English scyttan; related to Old Frisian sketta to shut in, Middle Dutch schutten to obstruct

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with shut

shut

In addition to the idioms beginning with shut

  • shut down
  • shut off
  • shut one's eyes to
  • shut out
  • shut the door
  • shut up

also see:

  • close (shut) down
  • close (shut) one's eyes to
  • close (shut) the door on
  • keep one's mouth shut
  • open and shut case
  • put up or shut up

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.